I noticed that one of your choices was the Air Arms HFT 500. I had a chance to handle one at the SHOT show and came away very impressed. It fit me well and was not as heavy as it looked like it would be. I'm an Air Arms fan and if I didn't already have a TX200 it's what I'd pick up to shoot in the hunter class with.

That is a good recommendation, Brian. I have one that I am going to evaluate and early results are very positive. It certainly is not too heavy and it holds really well. I did some offhand shooting at 10 yards and except for the occasional few, due to pilot error, was able to hold the main groups to about three eighths of an inch. I will take that anytime with a gun I just picked up for the first time. I have a Bushnell 6500, 2.5-16 on it for the testing.

There is certainly the possibility of using this rifle as a hunter or regular FT gun. The accessory rail and stock would allow for that.

Very anxious to get outdoor to shoot at distance, but -7 to -18 degrees is not real pleasant weather to shoot in. May have to head to the indoor range at Burlington to set up the aim-points for HFT.

Will be writing a full review once I am able to put the gun through all the shooting situations I can think of.